Collapsible boat



April 3, 1934. BERENDT 1,953,059

COLLAPSIBLE BOAT Filed'Deo. 8, 1932 INVENTOR AZF/Fffi BHFENDT BYATTORNEY :2 z

lQ portation.

Patented Apr. 3, 1934 unrrso STATES Mr 7 COLLAPSIBLE BOAT AlfredBerendt, New York, N. Y. 'Application December 8, 1932, Serial No.646,252

1 Claim.

Onecbject of this invention is the provision of a novel collapsible boatadapted for use around summer resorts Where a sunicient amount of wateris available for boating, the boat being 5 formed of a number ofsections which may be dismantled and the sections stacked together, inorder to provide a compact package which may be conveniently-carriedabout by a person without requiring a vehicle or other means of trans-Another object of the invention is to provide a collapsible boatcomprising a hollow frame forming the outline of the boat and having aplurality of buoyant cushion-like floats secured at various points onthe frame to give the boat its buoyancy, the floats being so constructedas to make overturning of the boat practically impossible. 7

Still another object of the invention is the pro- 2o vision of novelmeans for mutually interlocking the various sections of the frame.

A still further object is the provision of a sectional paddle adapted tobe used to propel the boat and formed of a plurality of removablesectime, so that the dismantled paddle may be conveniently carriedabout.

The above and other objects will become ap parent in the descriptionbelow, in which characters of reference refer to like-named parts in thedrawing.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan view of the boat.

Figure 2 is a side View of the same.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of one end of a frame section.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view, with the intermediate portionomitted, of a frame section. Figure 6 is a plan View of the mutuallyadjacent ends of a pair of frame sections.

Figure 7 is a view of two sections, one shown fragmentarily, of thepaddle.

Figure 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the line 88 ofFigure 7. Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 representsthe complete metal frame of the boat which is squared at the rear endand curved at the forward end, in conformity with the practice of boatconstruction. The rear frame member 11 is formed in substantiallyU-shaped conformation, and the front frame member 12 in substantiallyV-shaped conformation. The frame throughout this boat is made of hollowpiping or the like. Connected to one of the sides of the U-shaped framemember 11, is a frame section 14, a second frame section, and a thirdframe section 16 which is also connected to the frame section 12. Theother side of the frame section 11 is joined by means of sections 13,17, 50 and15, to the section 12. An air-inflated cushion or the like 19,is suspended from the frame section 11 by means of rings 24; Thiscushion together with similar cushions 20 and 21 may be formed of acasing of rubber and equipped with the usual inflating valve (notshown). For purposes of appearance the rubber casing of these cushionsmay be covered with canvas which may bear appropriate designs. At theforward end, the rear cushion 19 is hollowed out as shown at22 toprovide a curved back rest for the occupant seated on the seat 25. Thecentral cushion 20 is likewise hollowed out at 23. Between the cushions19 and 20 a seat 25 is suspended from opposite frame sections 13 and 14.This seat comprises a wide strip of canvas or the like having its ends26 sewed on to the frame section 13 and 14, or otherwise securedthereon. A similar seat 27 having its ends 28 secured to the oppositeframe sections 15 and 16, is mounted in front of 30 the cushion 20.Straps 29 and 30 are mounted in front of the seats 25 and 27,respectively, and are secured to the frame members by having their ends31 and 32 sewed about said frame members.

Each of the sections comprising the boat frame 35 10 has one end formedas shown in Figure 4, and the other end formed as shown on the left handside of Figure 5. Taking for example the section 13, its one end isconically tapered as shown at 33, and a peripheral slot 34 encirclesthis end adjacent the conical surface. The hollow passage extendingthrough all of the frame sections is indicated at 35. The adjacent endof frame section 17 which is adapted to be interlocked with the end justdescribed of section 13, has its hollow passage indicated at 35. A pin36 projects from the end of this passage and is adapted to enter thehollow passage 35 of section 13. A pair of oppositely-disposed resilientfingers 37 having dogs 38 on their free ends are mounted by means ofscrews 39 on the end of section 17. It is apparent that upon insertionof the pin 36 in the passage 35 of section 13, the dogs 38 will ride upthe conical surface 33 until they reach the peripheral slot 34,whereupon they will be forced into enm5 gagement with said slot andreleasably lock the two sections. As there is no reason to preventrotation of each individual section of the frame, the slot 34 has beenextended completely around on the end of section 13 so that when puttingthe frame together time will be saved by eliminating the necessity offirst aligning the dogs 38 with the slots they are adapted to registerin.

In the case of the dismountable paddle adapted to be used to propel thisboat, it is, however, necessary that the various sections of the paddledo not rotate with respect to each other, and therefore the resilientfingers 44 shown projecting from the central paddle member 41, must bealigned with recesses 42 in the paddle end before these sections willmutually interlock. In order to facilitate separation of the springfingers 44, the opposite sides of the paddle end adjacent the slots 42have been flattened as shown at 43 so that the dogs on the ends of thefingers 44 will readily ride up these flattened surfaces. The centralpin extending outwardly from the section 4i is indicated at 46, and thespring fingers are shown secured to this section by means of screws 45.It is therefore obvious that in using the paddle after it has beenassembled, the paddle end 40 will not rotate with respect to the centralsection 41. The completed paddle comprises the central section 41 and apaddle end 40 mounted on each end of the central section.

In use the occupant of the boat is seated on either of the seats 15 or27 and he rests his feet upon the strap 29 or 30, his back restingagainst the indented side 22 or 23 of the cushion 19 or 20. Obviously,two persons may occupy the boat, and obviously, in constructing such aboat it may be designed for three or more passengers although two wouldbe the most usually desired number.

In order to dismantle the boat for transportation, the two end sectionsare first removed by releasing the fingers 37 so that the dogs 38 aredisengaged from the slot 34, and in a similar manner the other sectionsare detached from each other. The finished parcel ready fortransportation then comprises the two end sections, the middle sectionincluding the cushion 20, and the seat sections, all of which may bestacked one upon the other and upon deflation of the various cushionsthe whole may be united to form a package easily carried by a singleperson. The paddle is similarly dismantled and may be placed with thepipe sections or carried separately. It is obvious from the above thatit is also a simple operation to join the various sections together toreconstruct the boat and the paddle.

Obvious modifications in form and structure may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

A collapsible boat comprising an endless pipelike frame divided intosections releasably attached to each other, a plurality of cushionssecured to some of said sections, means for releasably interlocking saidsections to each other, said means comprising a tapering end on each ofsaid sections, a peripherial slot concentric with the axis of said endadjacent said tapering end, a pin projecting axially from the other endof said section, a resilient spring finger secured to said other end andprojecting from the surface thereof substantially parallel with saidpin, and a hook on the end of said finger adapted to register yieldablyin said slot.

ALFRED BERENDT.

